The Hughes Brothers To Direct 'Iceman' Biopic

If you're as addicted to those mini courtroom drama/mystery docs on channels like A&E, Court TV and MSNBC as I am, then you most likely caught the one-hour special on Richard "Ice Man" Kuklinkski. For awhile, he was a contract killer working with the Gambino crime family and, by his own account, did away with as many as 200 people. If you managed to catch the TV special, you immediately know why they call this guy Ice Man; he's cold, calculated and could care less about any of the lives he took. To make matters worse, the man kept his job a secret from his wife and three children. (Right now, some therapist is making a lot of money off those poor kids.)

Producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Jason Blum have picked up the rights to Philip Carlo's book The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer, for brothers Allen and Albert Hughes (From Hell) to direct. Prior to his death in prison (while serving two life sentences), Kuklinski openly talked about his murders to folks like Carlo and his book is primarily based on those conversations. Currently, both producers are searching for a writer and, though they have first-look deals with Paramount, they are waiting to fully package the pic before setting it up at a studio. It will be interesting to see how everyone involved goes about tackling this story -- I mean, do they expect us to feel sympathy for their main character? I imagine they will work the whole FBI angle into it, and also focus on those who finally caught up with Kuklinsky. If not, get ready for one heck of a downer, folks -- this guy is (or should I say, was) one rotten dude.